by Alex Alcasid
Gershwin fell silent. As the silence stretched a bit too long, the princes began to think she had overstepped a boundary somewhere with her questioning. She opened her mouth to apologize, but the old man continued. “Magic, little dragon, is not as cut and dry as we may want it to be.”
“The arcane forces of this world choose who will be born with the ability to control their surroundings. The Sons and Daughters, for one, are predestined to be born, to live, and to die with their respective powers in their respective locations. Seven Sons and Seven Daughters, each the most powerful mage with control of their one, single, individual element or bailiwick.”
Loren hesitated. “But we’ve met a Daughter, Danna. I think she said she was the Second. She spelled men in an inn to fight for her amusement.”
“Ah, Danna.” Gershwin sighed heavily. He looked to age several years at the mere mention of Danna’s name. “She was always a wild child, that Danna. Her element is air, truth be told, but her expertise is in manipulation. A spelled whisper here, a scent on the wind there, and anyone she chooses will be bent to her will.”
On the snow, Loren moved the furs farther up her face, leaving only her eyes exposed, curious and watching Gershwin all the while. “That does sound like what she did at the inn…” she said, her voice muffled.”
“Mine, as you know, is frost. The cold and snow do not bother me. I can raise or calm blizzards and can walk in even the most frigid of areas.” Gershwin chuckled. “The only drawback is that I am bitterly sensitive to heat! I can accompany you all to the border of the north, but no farther I’m afraid.”
“It’s the same with my dear sister.” Seraphis chimed in. “She’s the Fourth of the Daughters, the Witch of Flames they call her. The slightest chill will set her off, and she would set the nearest flammable thing or person ablaze to create some heat.”
Loren winced at the thought of Haedria setting servants on fire as portable heaters. She turned back to Gershwin. “So what about the dragon magic?”
“Ah! Yes, the dragon magic. My apologies, I must have gotten sidetracked.” The old man cleared his throat. “ As I am aware, the High Dragon who’s favor the Lady Ylfair won bestowed the powers to her. With the help of talented smiths, the dragon itself, and some mages, she contained the magic within the pendant you wear. Now, the difference between my magic and yours is that your fate was not written to be a mage. Your dragon magic was won fairly after a valiant battle, then passed down for generations in the family and it answers only to those of your blood.”
Loren nodded, pensive, and fell silent again. It was just an heirloom then, nothing more. Even Seraphis was able to use the dragon magic, proving that they were distantly related. Loren sighed, settling into the snow and the warmth of Kae and Ma’trii beside her. She wasn’t as special or important as she thought. “Thank you, Gershwin.”
“For what, little dragon?”
“For being patient with me. I learned a lot, you’ve a very good teacher.”
Gershwin chuckled, and reached over to pat the top of Loren’s head. “Sleep now, little dragon. You have a long journey ahead of you when you wake.”
Loren nodded again and curled up closer to Kae. She felt the huntress shift, turning on her side and moving closer to Loren in return. The princess smiled, and closed her eyes, finally drifting off to sleep.
Seraphis watched Loren and Kae sleep, again, and sighed. Her expression was grim as she rubbed the markings circling her wrists, burning with a fiery light underneath her skin. “Haedria,” she breathed quietly, softly enough that even Gershwin wouldn’t hear. Her branded markings flared, and she shifted to face the wall, so the added glow wouldn’t be seen. Her sister heard her call. “Duro and I are almost home. I found the dragon girl, and you were right. You were right.”
Chapter Seventeen
The next day, Loren woke just as immobile as the night before. Yawning, she struggled and shooed Ma’trii off her. The wolf yelped, startled awake, and hopped off. The wolf came around to lick Loren’s face, until the princess giggled and waved him away again, telling him to wake Kae. The huntress was still fast asleep and wouldn’t wake no matter how many times her wolf licked her face. Ma’trii gave a frustrated grunt, and repeatedly pounced onto the huntress and her bundle of furs. Kae woke with a heavy ‘oof,’ swearing and wheezing into consciousness.
“Ma’trii!” Kae coughed, struggling to get up. “What was that for?”
Already sitting up beside her, Loren chuckled. “Good morning, Kae. I’m glad you’re awake.” She smiled at the huntress, her words only scratching the surface of her meaning. “I’m really sorry but we have to get going soon.”
“What? Where are we?” Kae asked groggily, yawning. The igloo had remained intact throughout the frigid night, and Kaiten and Cassendir were groaning and sitting up in response to the sudden noise. She saw Gershwin by the wall, sitting on a mound of snow and leaning against a wall. The old man’s chest rose and fell steadily in his sleep. “Who’s that?” Kae whispered to Loren.
“A very powerful mage. His name is Gershwin, and he’s the one that saved us.” Loren answered. The princess stood and offered a hand to help Kae stand. She took it and got up, brushing the snow off her furs. Her skin was still pale and she shivered slightly, but she was alive. It was more than Loren could have asked for.
Kae noticed the princess looking around the igloo as if searching for something. “Did you lose anything, princess?”
“Ah, no.” Loren muttered. Just like before at the outpost, Seraphis and her hound left without a trace. “Must be my imagination. Are you alright Kae? Well enough to walk?”
The huntress nodded. “I’m alright. Hungry and cold, but we can’t do anything about the cold.”
“We still have venison in our packs; Cassendir can start a fire for us as soon as he wakes up.”
Kae nodded again. She began to stretch, holding her arms as high above her head as she could. The motion jutted her chest out, and Loren glanced before prying her gaze away. The princess felt a hot flush on her cheeks. “Another day of us not dead.” Kae said, chuckling. “So far so good on your adventure, right princess? How much farther are we to the border? I wouldn’t regret getting as far away from here as possible. I mean, I think I can’t even remember what warmth feels like.”
Kae laughed good naturedly, and Ma’trii shared a wolfish chuckle beside her. The princess couldn’t help but smile. Kae was in high spirits despite almost dying in the cold last night. She dreaded to think of what she would do if she never heard the huntress’s cheerful banter again. Loren smiled and left Kae to stretch and attempt to restore feeling in her numb fingers. She went to check on the boys.
Blue light was shining brightly through Cassendir’s clothes. The man himself looked weak and pale, but the light of his magic was strong. Loren unwrapped one of her own furs and put it around the scholar’s shoulders. She took his face in her hands, gently lifting his head to look at her. Cassendir weakly blinked back and made no effort to move.
“Cassendir? Are you alright?” she asked.
The scholar didn’t have the energy to shake his head. “Princess, I will be honest with you.” He muttered. Loren let go of him and sat close to him instead. “I may die here. You all go on ahead and carry out your mission.”
Loren shook her head. “No, Cassendir. You won’t die. I won’t let any of you die.” She reached for his hand. It was tucked close to his body, covered by furs and Kespian silks. When Loren touched his skin, she gasped. It was colder than the snow around her. “We’ll get out of here soon. I promise you.”
Cassendir sighed heavily and shook his head. He said nothing, but the blue light of his magic wavered. Loren saw, and understood. His magic was all that was keeping him alive and conscious. The princess glanced to Kaiten who was watching her silently. She glanced pointedly back at Cassendir, her eyes carrying the unspoken instruction that the Beastman prince should do something. Kaiten shrugged, and Loren nudged her head towards Cassendir mor
e urgently.
Kaiten relented with a sigh and muttered a gruff “come here.” He shifted, awkwardly, and pulled Cassendir to his chest, wrapping him in the Beastman’s share of furs and clamping his arms around the scholar’s. Kaiten stared back at Loren, obviously in discomfort.
“Just keep him alive, okay?” Loren sighed. “For me? I’ll repay the favor with whatever you want me to do once we’re all somewhere warm and not dead.”
“What? I don’t want him to die either!” Kaiten spluttered, indignant. “It’s just that-“
“Is it because he’s a human or because he’s male?” Loren asked bluntly, hands on her hips.
“…..Human.” Kaiten muttered, embarrassed. “You humans have no fur, no feathers, you feel so strange to hold. Too smooth and soft.”
“Just tough this one out for a little while.” Loren tried to stifle a chuckle. “I promise it won’t be for very long.” She glanced back at Cassendir’s face. The scholar’s head had pitched forward onto the Beastman’s warm chest. He was awake, aware that he now was cradled in muscular arms covered in coarse fur, but he made no move to react. The blue light of his magic flickered.
The next few minutes were spent with Loren busying herself around the igloo, checking and rechecking her packs, taking out a cut of venison that she had wrapped in a scrap of silks for storage, and finding enough kindling and sticks to make a fire.
From where she was curled up with Ma’trii, Kae watched Loren as the princess zipped around, blind to the world in her haste to gather enough fallen twigs. “Princess.” Kae called.
Loren muttered to herself a checklist of things in her pack and the basic plan of how to get to Sagna from the northern border. She didn’t hear Kae at all.
“Princess!” Kae called again.
Still no response. Loren crouched by a spot in the snow and began to rub twigs together over kindling.
“Loren!” Kae shouted.
Startled, Loren dropped the sticks she was holding. They clattered onto the pile of twigs and tinder, and the full weight of her situation fell on Loren like a stone as Kae watched. They were children, lost in the middle of nowhere, going to attempt to…to do what? Assassinate a queen? Seek revenge? They could barely survive a short trek through the north. Her friend almost died, and another was well on his way to freezing to death. Her friends were following her to their deaths. She had no right, no right to hold their lives in her hands like this. The princess realized these doubts were coming so frequently because they were right. They should have stayed home.
When Kae called her name again, softly and close by, Loren looked up. Hot tears streamed down her face. “Yes, Kae?” she muttered.
Kae’s smile was gentle. The huntress knelt beside Loren and pulled the princess into a hug, wrapping her traveling cloak and furs around her shoulders. “I know what you’re thinking, Loren.” Kae said. “Please calm down. We’re here with you and we’re not leaving. Let’s just focus on one thing at a time, alright?”
Loren looked to Kae. The huntress’s face was so close to hers. There were dark circles around Kae’s eyes, her skin was pale, she simply looked so tired. And yet here she was, able to smile and comfort the princess while she herself was freezing.
Loren’s wracking sob was muffled by the furs as she pressed herself into Kae’s chest, holding onto the huntress tightly. Kae patted the princess’s back, patiently letting her cry.
“This whole thing is terrible, isn’t it?” Kae said with a soft chuckle. She felt Loren nod, and she laughed again. “Think about it this way, princess. If it wasn’t for you, Ma’trii and I would never have seen what’s past the forest and the plains. We’d never have gone on an adventure, meet new people, experience magic. All we knew were dirt and trees. We were happy there, I admit, and it was a simple life, but that was all. The world is so much bigger than we thought. There’s so much to do, see, smell and eat. Isn’t that right, you dumb wolf?”
Ma’trii nudged Kae hard in the arm and gave her one long lick across the face before bounding off, bowing playfully at both of the girls.
“And Cassendir, you know how much he loves to observe and study. He’s Kespian and a scholar, so seeing more of the world that isn’t sand and books is exciting for him. Didn’t he trade a notebook full of notes on cold weather plants just to get you a horse back at the crossroads inn? That was one notebook, full of notes on plants. And the Plaguelands! Think of all the knowledge he drummed up just slogging through the Plaguelands.” Kae smiled and squeezed Loren in a familiar gesture. “We’re following you on our own free will, princess. So go and be our fearless leader, that dragon that leads armies to war or whatever it is your big blue and gold dragon is actually there for. We’ll be with you.”
Loren looked up gratefully from Kae’s arms, eyes still shining with tears. Kae looked back at her, and a feeling began to well in the huntress’s chest. The princess was so vulnerable, so small in her arms and bundled in furs and silks. In that moment, the princess looked like a young girl, just like Kae. Almost a woman, but not quite yet. Her shoulders were tensed and strong, with responsibilities piled high onto her. But in Loren’s eyes, the weight of it all showed. The princess was the next in line to rule an entire kingdom, and her mother was dying. Loren simply wasn’t ready. She was just a girl, lost in the middle of no where, far away from home.
The huntress, unsure and hesitant, glanced at Loren’s lips. She angled her face closer, very slowly, her heart beating nervously in her chest.
The princess raised a hand under her furs and wiped her tears away. She took a breath, gathering herself, and pulling slightly away from Kae. In the huntress’s arms, Loren felt harder and tensed when just a while before she had melted into the embrace. She took another breath and held it, closing her eyes to focus herself. When her eyes opened again, Kae saw they were the shimmering gold of the dragon magic. Loren’s face changed as Kae watched.
Her expression hardened, her jaw clenched, and her eyes set into a determined glare. She was focused, much like how the dragon magic took hold of her at the cursed castle in Yureun. The princess disentangled herself from Kae’s arms and returned to her pile of twigs and kindling. Kae didn’t even have time to say a word. The huntress watched Loren return to furiously rubbing twigs together, insulted that she just got up like that without saying anything. Without waiting another precious second.
Loren’s golden eyes shimmered brightly, catching the sunlight that glinted off the snow from holes in the igloo walls, glowing a resplendent gold. Her hands were sure in their movements, she looked more confident, she carried herself with grace. Kae’s eyes widened as the realization dawned on her.
The dragon magic was a crutch.
The only times it made sense to use it was when Loren was in trouble and vulnerable somehow. The magic aided her focus and fighting prowess at the Yureun castle when she had to fight the queen and her monstrous king and save her friends. Otherwise, Loren was arrogant and hot-headed; but did not seem to call upon the magic consciously. This time, faced with the momentous task of trying to light a fire while having a breakdown, she purposefully called on the dragon magic to help her get it done.
As Kae watched, the twigs began to smoke and smolder. Loren blew gently on it, allowing the smoking bark to fall onto the crushed dried leaves she piled up as kindling. Smoke began to billow and rise from the little pile, and Loren set it back down on the snow. She patiently held twig after twig to the young fire, encouraging it to catch and spread.
The huntress glanced at Loren’s eyes. With the task done, the gold receded. She saw the color drain from her irises, disappearing into her pupils. Loren let out a long sigh, and Kae knew. The girl she was watching make a fire was not her princess. This one, this young girl holding a stick over a gently growing fire, wiping tears out of her eyes and stifling a sob, was.
From where he sat on a mound of snow, Gershwin spluttered awake. The old man ran a wrinkled hand over his face and blinked, trying to focus in the dim morning lig
ht. Loren waved at him from the little pile of sticks that were steadily catching into a proper fire.
“Good morning, sir.” The princess said, trying to keep the sobs out of her voice. Kae likewise waved, but stayed where she was. The huntress huddled down in her furs. “We’ve made it through the night.”
“So you have! That is all well and good.” Gershwin said with a smile. His dark skin bunched up as he smiled. “I suppose you will not have any more time to waste? Every spare second spent in the north brings you more and more risks. What happened to your friend over there, the mage? Come, come, bring him to me. I cannot help you cross the border, but the least I can do to help is draw the cold out of you all.”
Loren was startled. Her mouth fell open to speak, then closed, then dropped open again. Eventually she found the words. “Sir- I mean, Gershwin, that is a lot of help! This cannot go unpaid! I have coin here—“
The old man smiled kindly. He shook his head and stood, stretching out his back with a grunt. “Save your resources, little dragon. I know the power of the north and its elements, having a strong connection with them myself. If you recall Seraphis’s words, this is a terrible place to die. Now come, while the wind is still.”
Kae looked at Loren, confused. “Seraphis?”
The princess nodded. “She was here. She and Gershwin found us dying in the snow. They were the ones that saved us.”
“Why would Seraphis come back?”
The old man gently patted Kae’s shoulder as he passed her on the way to where Cassendir was bundled up with Kaiten. “She had her own reasons and was still in the area when I sensed the little dragon’s magic awakening. I will assume she left earlier this morning, while we all slept. And without saying goodbye! Manners…” he scoffed. As he walked, a soft white light shown from under his trousers and cloak, lighting up the snow he crunched underfoot. Already the temperature inside the igloo felt warmer.